Is taxable ex-gratia Redundancy payment considered 'Income for pension relief purposes'

Due to being made redundant in Feb (of this year) I had reduced normal income on which I could make an AVC to achieve the maximum allowable tax free pension contribution. I later got the idea (can't remember where) that the taxable element of my ex-gratia payment could have been considered as 'Income for pension relief purposes' in the calculation of the max tax free pension contribution & thus would have increased my possible AVC contribution considerably.
I phoned Revenue twice & nether person could confirm or discount the taxable ex-gratia as being allowable in the calculation. I submitted enquiry on RoS but have not got a response yet (3 weeks now).
Would anyone be able to provide guidance or experience on this?

Background; 64 yr old married PAYE worker made redundant in Feb this year (2025) with 15 years service. Received redundancy payments consisting of a) Statutory (tax free); b) Ex-gratia Basic Exemption (tax free); c) Ex-gratia Balance (tax at source at 40%).

joecoie said:

I later got the idea (can't remember where) that the taxable element of my ex-gratia payment could have been considered as 'Income for pension relief purposes' in the calculation of the max tax free pension contribution & thus would have increased my possible AVC contribution considerably.

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joecoie said:

I phoned Revenue twice & nether person could confirm or discount the taxable ex-gratia as being allowable in the calculation. I submitted enquiry on RoS but have not got a response yet (3 weeks now).

Click to expand...

The taxable portion of a termination payment should not be included as 'pay' when calculating the limit for relief for pension contributions.

Confirmation by Revenue.ie under the paragraph 'Termination Payments' here:

Thank you AAA..,
that seems conclusive - strange how I did not come across/ notice this in my research; but more that two revenue officers who spend some time on calls with me did not have the ability to locate this reference even when consulting with another colleague!
Glad now that I didn't include it in my calculations. Much appreciated.